On May 18 at Jacksonville’s Hodges Stadium, Lakeem Johnson (’24) ran in the Boy’s 400m. Johnson finished in 48.41 seconds, garnering fifth place. With this, he also broke the school record, which was broken by Johnson at Regionals only a week before.
At the same event, Tammy Jerson (’24) got tenth in the Women’s 400m. Jerson ended up breaking the best time in Robinson’s women division history, since 1998.
A record is broken, and a new best is set, all at the FHSAA 2A State Track and Field Championships.
There were seven other participants from Robinson. Runners include Xander Logan (’25), who ran in the Men’s 4x 100m Relay. Track members Jalen Aikens (’25), Jaylen Holman (‘24) and Allan Lewis (’24) joined him in the relay. They placed 11th in the relay.
Logan recounts just how riveting the experience was, making it to the State Championships.
“Going into States, I was excited and was really taking it in, [just] being there,” Logan said. “but right before the race was definitely when the nerves set in, probably the most nervous I’ve felt for a race all season.”
Since the preseason practice began in late winter, the team had put in an enormous amount of energy into preparing for competitions.
“I definitely feel the practice paid off, especially when you commit to the 2-hour practices everyday in the blazing heat,” Logan said.
Eric Archield Jr (’25) competed in the Men’s Discus. After completing the Discus, Archield jumped from 16th place, during Regionals, to 12th place.
Archield talks of all the coach’s influence, such as Head Coach Manuel Montero, who helped in setting up the runners for success on the track.
“The coaches had a very positive impact as they were always keeping the team level-headed and our sights set on higher things than what we’ve seen,” Archield said.
With that being said, Montero comments on how each runner has showcased true improvement, confirming this with the data from the States Championships.
“Everyone really did a great job. Every single Robinson athlete placed higher than their starting position,” Montero said.
To Montero, it was all worth it. The vigorous training led to a gracious season, and an overall successful States Championship.
“Our preparation was really the whole season…we focus training and development to peak at Regionals and hopefully get through to States,” Montero said. “[The team] train very, very hard, so when we get to the week of States, we actually focus on technical skills and try to recover from all the hard training. It worked well for us this year.”
